- Winning schools announced for the Minister’s Innovation Challenge 2023
- Students recognised for developing innovative solutions to local problems
- Winners will share a $10,000 cash prize pool
The winners of the Minister’s Innovation Challenge 2023 have been announced today by Education Minister Dr Tony Buti.
The top three winning teams were named during an online exhibition, and were recognised for their outstanding problem-solving skills and creative solutions to real-world problems.
Bob Hawke College won this year’s top prize of $5,000 for developing an app to address heavy traffic and congestion at The Matthew’s Netball Centre car park in Jolimont.
The app shows the live and predicted status of the car park at a given time, with the option to host or share a carpool with a teammate or friends.
Denmark Senior High School took out second place, and will receive $3,000 for designing an interactive art installation that aims to reduce the amount of plastic entering the ocean at Denmark beaches.
It features a drinking fountain and rubbish bin connected by a wave sculpture which has space to educate people about microplastics.
The $2,000 third place prize was awarded to the Exmouth District High School team, who came up with an app that provides visitors with a fully immersive virtual reality (VR) experience to ensure visitors to the region act sustainably.
The VR app enables users to experience the life, play, and struggles of a native animal of their choice, so they have greater empathy for the biology of the region as well as the threats to coral reefs worldwide.
Thirty teams of Year 8 students from Western Australian public schools participated in The Minister’s Innovation Challenge this year.
It involved students using design thinking to develop innovative solutions to local issues or problems.
The challenge aims to prepare young people to lead and innovate in today’s world. It also forms part of the Career Learning Toolkit, which addresses the need for career learning for secondary school students.
The challenge was facilitated by Bloom: The Centre for Youth Innovation.
As stated by Education Minister Dr Tony Buti:
“Congratulations to the winners of the Innovation Challenge for the creative ways they developed solutions to local issues.
“I was highly impressed by the way students engaged with the challenge, and took part in real-life learning opportunities.
“This challenge helps ensure young people are better prepared to lead and innovate in our changing world.
“It also offers students the opportunity to connect with the local community as well as industry partners.”
